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Causes of disruptive physician behavior

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, June 7, 2007

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Few institutions have clear, written expectations of behavior; however, many are surprised when physician behavior appears, to them, unacceptable. If you tell physicians what is expected of them in virtually any aspect of their performance, the vast majority will meet, and even exceed, your requirements. But before you sit down to compile your expectations and write a policy, consider the physician's concerns, limits, and frustrations. Remember that physicians must deal with overwhelming amounts of stress. Consider what behavior is appropriate when one has to deal with the following:

• Frustration over what is perceived as administration's failure to address chronic understaffing, which jeopardizes patient care
• Important tests that are not performed due to a scheduling error
• The feeling that a nurse has been incompetent or has placed his or her patient at significant risk
• Being called at 2 a.m. with the report of a normal laboratory result that was available at 9 p.m.

Editor's note: The above excerpt is from the online course "Disruptive Physician Behavior: Techniques for Managing and Preventing." For more information on this and other courses in our library, go to http://www.hcprofessor.com.

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